restaurant paradise
by Synesthesiae
Summary: au. they are mere classmates, distant friends suffering from the same problem, yet they meet at this same paradise.


"Welcome, madam. Let me get your coat for you."

C.C. turned slightly in an effort to let the older waiter take off her deep maroon colored fur coat that fell two inches below her knee. When he draped it over his arm with a gentle smile stretched out on his kind face, he asked her, "Table for one, madam. Like usual?"

She nodded and followed him inside.

This restaurant was her getaway. Everytime she felt a turmoil boiling inside her, she would retreat to this familiar, quiet, illuminating place. A beautiful, small restaurant located on a road just a little ways from the center of Tokyo; from the center of all the headaches and heartaches and stresses.

Yes, C.C. needed to clear her head once in a while. Though recently she found herself looking forward to the end of each day or each week so that she could venture out to this favorite place of hers and leave behind a heartache that wouldn't otherwise go away.

When she sat down at a table in a corner where no one could have given her curious looks, where she would be obscured from everything and anyone except for the friendly staff whom she knew quite well, she was handed a menu.

Without looking at it, she lifted her gaze to look at the smiling waiter. "The usual, please," she said softly, and he bowed slightly.

"Yes, madam. While you're waiting, the usual drink?"

"The usual drink," she confirmed, unable to hold back a smile, and the waiter retreated to the back of the restaurant where she knew the kitchen was located. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips when she thought about how bustling it must be in there at this hour.

Putting her chin on her palm, C.C.'s bright golden orbs slowly travelled around the familiar space until they rested upon a familiar figure that made her freeze solid.

Strange thing was, said figure was also looking at her. Curiously, questioningly and amusingly.

"L-Lelouch!" she gasped before she could stop herself in time. Many pairs of eyes befell her but she chose to ignore them.

The chair scraped back as Lelouch stood up to walk over to her table. When he was standing right next to her, looming over her like a big, tall tower, with his hands casually dug in his pants' pockets, he said with a smirk, "So the Grey Witch isn't so inhuman after all."

"How do you mean?" she inquired calmly in spite of the nervousness in the pit of her stomach.

He glanced around and gestured with his hand. "The staff of this place are composed of only middle-aged men. Real gentlemen, I must say. Is that the real reason why you specifically prefer this restaurant, my dear classmate?"

"I'm not your '_dear_ classmate,'" she snapped before composing herself. Clearing her throat, she glared at him and said, "This place is very well-known for its delicious food and wine. Anyone who has amazing tastes would know of this restaurant." She crossed her arms and leaned back, smirking slightly. "And it's a bonus that the staff here are just so nice and gentlemanly and simply _beautiful_." There was a strong emphatic there. Lelouch didn't know why.

He only chuckled in response.

"So you have peculiar tastes, too, huh?"

"I wouldn't say peculiar… Interesting is a word I'd use."

"Fine," he nodded. "Mind if I joined you?"

C.C. was taken aback by such a query that she was sure for a moment she was merely gaping at him with wide eyes. Only when he blinked at her a couple of times that she got a hold of herself, cleared her throat again and said rather reluctantly. "Hm, if you wish. But just so you know." The sly smirk was back. "It'll cost you to dine with the Grey Witch."

"Is that so?" He was smiling. "Just for tonight, the cost holds no importance to me." And she chuckled.

**xxx**

The cups clinked together before the two diners brought them to their lips to sip from them. The creamy coffee simply tasted marvelous. Better yet, they couldn't fathom another coffee this wonderful.

"I never noticed you here before," C.C. said in that lazy and soft voice of hers as she gently swirled the liquid within her own cup. A small smile was playfully tugging at her lips. "Is this your first time?"

Lelouch shook his head. "No, my many times, to be accurate. I could say the same thing about you. I never saw you here before."

"Wonderful." She laughed daintily, covering her mouth with one hand. He raised a questioning brow. "Just like how I want," she said, "you see, I've always wanted to have a private spot to myself to be completely at ease. The waiter hadn't lied when he said no one would notice me if I sat here." She chuckled before sipping her cup again.

"Then I'm surprised you hadn't noticed me," said Lelouch.

At that time, the waiter came out holding two plates of beautifully decorated food.

"Oshizushi for you, madam." He gently placed the plate down in front of the green-haired girl.

"Nigirizushi for you, sir." He did the same for the raven-haired boy.

Smiling down at the teens, he said, "Is there anything else you need, sir and madam?"

"That's it for now, thank you," Lelouch replied politely. The waiter nodded before turning around and walking away.

"Ahh, even his walk is so elegant," C.C. sighed as she looked at his retreating back.

"Sounds like someone's in love," remarked Lelouch.

"I guess you can say that." There's that dainty laugh again.

"Perhaps love knows no boundaries," he said.

As C.C. was chewing on her sushi, she mulled it over. _Maybe love knows no bounds…._

"Too bad there isn't a place like this with female staff," C.C. said as she looked at him amusingly. "If there were, I doubt I would see you here at all."

"You are correct." He chuckled and put a piece of food in his mouth.

"Really, so what are you doing here?" she said cannily. "Maybe your preferences are… different now?"

He looked up so quickly that she thought she heard a _snap! _somehwere in his neck.

"You're kidding," he said humorlessly. The sushi hung limbless between his chopsticks.

She chuckled. "No, I wasn't."

"What did you say before?"

"About what?" She put another piece in her mouth and started chewing.

"Why you come here. To see these gentlemen that are so hard to find in this society?"

"Like I said," she said impatiently, looking up to meet his eyes. "I come here because of the food and wine-"

"But you're not legal to drink yet," he reminded her.

"Well, that's why we ordered coffee, didn't we?"

"So the food then?"

"Of course, what's your point?"

"I just answered your question."

"Heh?"

A triumphant smirk split his handsome face. "I come here because of the food as well. Nothing more, nothing less." Then he put the piece in his mouth and chewed.

C.C. narrowed her eyes at him before smirking, shaking her head slightly, and went back to eating her food.

But then she thought, _He's not really bad for a dining partner. _She stole a look at him. He was peacefully and leisurely eating his sushi as if he had all the time in the world.

_Right, _she thought warily, _of course._

"You saw them?"

His sudden question snapped her out of her reverie and jerked her back to reality.

"Pardon?" she asked, a bit confused.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers and held it for a while before speaking, "Today, in the hallway, I'm sure you saw them."

"Them…" _Them. Right, them… kissing… Right. The real reason why I'm going to this place tonight…_

C.C. let out a small sigh. "Yes, I saw them," she said coldly. "Good for them."

Lelouch shrugged his slim shoulders. "I suppose so," he said before devouring another piece.

She was staring at him curiously. Could it be that that was the real reason he'd visited this restaurant tonight, too? A getaway, just like for her?

_If that's so… What a coincidence._

She smirked.

For the rest of the dinner, the two of them spent it between taking sips from their coffee cups, leisurely eating their delicious and beautifully decorated foods and making small chats.

It went quite well in C.C.'s opinion.

When the dishes were cleared away, the waiter came out with two checks. His kind smile was etched on his subtly lined face as he carefully put down C.C. and Lelouch's respective checks.

"Is there anything else you need?" he asked politely.

"No, thank you," answered C.C. before picking up her own check. The waiter withdrew.

Suddenly, Lelouch's long-fingered hand appeared over her own and she flinched slightly in surprise.

"Please, let me," he said simply, gently pushing her hand down onto the white-linen clothed table, and fished out a black leathered wallet from his pocket.

C.C. narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't want to be in anyone's debt," she said frankly.

The raven-haired, handsome teen merely shrugged his shoulders, producing a couple of bills from his seemingly expensive wallet, placing them atop their bills, and spoke, "Consider it paid. You don't owe me anything, C.C. I'm doing this because I want to."

"And everyone says chivalry is dead." She smirked knowingly. He only chuckled in response.

**xxx**

Sometimes, C.C. had to wonder if a smile was surgically stitched onto each waiter's face because she had never seen one without the subtle upward curving of the lips' corners. All the same, it brought a smile to her own face.

As they approached the oak door opening on the restaurant, a waiter was already standing there with her coat draping over his arm. He regarded her with warm, liquid-brown eyes. Again, the pleasant smile never once faltered.

"Let me." A voice next to her said suddenly and C.C. blinked.

Lelouch took the initiative and reached a hand out toward the waiter for her coat. Said waiter obliged. The Grey Witch could only speechlessly turn around so that her classmate could put the coat on her slender frame. He even made sure it fit perfectly around her.

"Have a good night, sir and madam," said the waiter with a small bow. Lelouch and C.C. cordially replied with their own 'goodnights' as they exited the restaurant.

Once they were outside - the door clicked closed softly behind them - in the cold, on the deserted street lit up by a couple of streetlights paced evenly around, under the bright crescent moon, C.C. turned to her companion.

"What did you think?" she asked, looking at him directly in the eye. He held her gaze.

"About what?"

"_Them_. This afternoon. Must have broken your heart, huh? Poor boy." There was a distinct playfulness in her tone that made him almost chuckle. Almost. Instead, what came out of his throat sounded like a cross between a grunt and a stifled snicker.

"Not particularly," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it did answer a question that always needed answering."

She quirked up a delicate green eyebrow. "Is that so? You didn't feel murderous at all when you saw that?"

"Not quite. How about you? You were after him for a long time as well."

This time, it was she who nonchalantly shrugged. "I guess the fact that I didn't feel like strangling both of them right then and there only proves that I wasn't really into him like I thought I was."

He allowed a smirk to cross his face. "Is that so? In that case, we both learned something valuable in this experience."

"Indeed."

Suddenly, out of the blue, she reached up and grabbed his dark blue tie, pulled it down, and in the process earning a puzzled gasp from him. Their faces were inches apart when she spoke. Her voice was breathy and her bright golden orbs illuminated sensuality.

"Remember when I said it'd cost you to dine with a witch? Well, it's time you made your payment, boy."

Lelouch closed his eyes, smirked and leaned further down.

**-end-**

disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass.

A/N: Just a little idea I got from watching Ristorante Paradiso :) Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! And many thanks for taking your time to review!


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